9—Shelter

Merel putting some distance from himself and the watchtower moved toward a log cabin he had spied on a small hill some two hundred meters away.

He chose to settle for the day seeing as much time had passed and the sky was soon to turn dark and nothing good could come from travelling in the dark, not because he couldn't see, he might have written a rune for that. He was cautious of monsters, he'd no silver sword like a monster hunter nor a normal sword either not wanting to risk his life in such a hopeless endeavour he opted to take shelter for the coming night.

He had come across a path earlier where the marsh began to fade into a worn road and another glance at his map told him the path split into three. One leading across the pontar due north to Novigrad and the last two both headed south west converging on a small settlement, most likely a village.

He had abandoned the idea of walking there on foot on the long muddy as he had no horse to his name not to mention his stomach beginning to groan, he instead made haste to the cabin on the hill.

The hill wasn't large nor the incline unbearable and so making his way up the small footpath fading from having not been treaded on for some time he reached the threshold of the cabin.

Steps still silent he strided towards the place and after circling the place a few times and not hearing a sound he used his foot to push open the door so it wouldn't make a sound, surprisingly it had been left unlocked, the door slightly ajar.

Waiting a minute or so he poked his head inside seeing nobody inside, the whole cabin consisted of only a single room with each side dedicated to an activity a kitchen, bed and so on.

Merel then spent the next hour searching the room for any valuables but after rummaging for some time found nothing. The person who had abandoned this place didn't leave a single thing of worth behind.

Merel leaving the room noticed it was still a few hours till the sun would drop below the horizon and so he readied himself to bring a few things up with him to the cabin.

Tracing his way back down the fading path and following his shoe prints through the soft dirt, he finally arrived back at the carriage.

Grabbing a sword still in it's leather sheath he strapped the sword to his back with the straps, taking a roll of fabric placing it inside the crate and lifted the crate up beginning the slow haul up the hill.

Merel had travelled travelled ninety percent of the way up the hill before placing the crate down and dropping to his knees in exhaustion panting to catch his breath.

The load might not have been heavy but walking uphill with a sword on his back took it's toll stopping him just shy of reaching the cabin.

He thought of writing a rune for increased strength or reducing weight of the load but gave up on the idea seeing as he was so close to the cabin anyway and cursing himself for not thinking of it earlier.

'I'm still using my old world's common sense. Perhaps I should write a rune to increase my intelligence...'

Taking a few minutes to rest he called out his tome into his hands to talk with it while he rested.

"Say... is there a better way to help me carry this heavy stuff?"

[There is a way but it requires I, the tome, teach you about enchantment papers. Paper enchantment is the most popular form of runecraft among runologists.]

"What's the difference? I'm still writing runes at the end of the day right?"

[Merel is correct. Though they both entail the inscribing of runes there is one major difference. First, the tome will explain what they are. Enchanment papers are papers inscribed with runes but what's written on the paper is not limited to runes.]

[With enchantment papers one may inscribe requirements and parameters to guide the effect of the rune for example on a sword instead of inscribing it with a simple word with single meaning one may inscribe it with an entire sentence such as 'cause bleeding' or 'exacerbate wounds'. The more complex the enchantment the higher the skill of the runologist.]

"Seems extremely useful..."

[That is correct. Continuing from earlier the more efficient way to have carried it up the hill would have been to inscribe an enchantment paper with 'reduced weight' then apply the enchantment to the objects in question by tracing a line in the air with a pen from the page of the tome over to each of item you wish to enchant. The tome can store any enchantment written into it for repeated use.]

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A/N: Chapter a little late today had a relative come over. Answering some questions on previous chapters, yes he can give abilities to himself. 820 words without Author's note.